Exercise and physical activity play a huge role in determining both our physical and mental health outcomes. Engaging in exercise as early as infancy is important for improving cognitive, social, and motor skill development as well as for shaping long-term behaviors. Exercise at all ages also aids in the primary and secondary prevention of several chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, depression and osteoporosis) and reduces the risk of premature death. This highlights that exercise is critical at all ages but knowing how much to do and what type of exercise can be confusing – so we’ve broken it down for you.
Recommended Exercise at Each Age
Preschool-Aged Children (3-5 years) should be doing:
- Physical activity every day throughout the day
- Examples of this include active play through a variety of enjoyable activities
Children & Adolescents (6-17 years) should be doing:
- At least 1 hour of moderate-to-vigorous** physical activity daily which includes aerobic activity and muscle and bone strengthening activities
- Good options of this include team sports such as basketball or netball, individual sports such as tennis or swimming or other activities such as running, active play such as tag, hopping or skipping, as well as school PE lessons
**What does light, moderate & vigorous intensity exercise actually mean?- Light-intensity activities: you should be able to sing
- Moderate-intensity activity: you should be able to talk but not sing
- High intensity (vigorous exercise): talking is difficult
Adults (18-64 years) should be doing:
- At least 150-300mins per week of moderate intensity exercise
- At least 75-150 min per week of vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity
- OR a combination of moderate & vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
PLUS
- Muscle strengthening activities that involve all major muscle groups for 2 or more days per week
- Good options for aerobic activities in adulthood include swimming, cycling or running. Strength training can be done at the gym or through functional activities such as trade work, functional lifting, or attending strength classes such as BodyPump.
Older Adults (65 years plus) should be doing:
- The same aerobic & strength guidelines as above for adults
PLUS
- Additional balance training & falls prevention exercises >3 days per week
- Some great seniors-based classes for aerobic conditioning run in the City including Active Light, Light pace, and our aqua classes. The City also has options for Seniors to engage in strength based exercise via our Strength for Life program, use of our gym facilities, and through certain classes such as Forever Fit strength, ForeverFit aqua and even Sit-to-Fit.
If patients have chronic diseases, they should still try to engage in physical activity as outlined above in a safe an effective manner. The following considerations should be kept in mind:
- Regular physical activity is crucial to maintaining health and preventing cardiovascular disease complications.
- Patients must consult their physician and work out safely according to their fitness level
Benefits of Aerobic versus Strength Training
| Aerobic exercise | Strength based exercise |
|---|
- Reduces health risks of many conditions including cardiovascular disease and certain cancers
| |
| - Helps maintain lean body weight
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- Improve mental well-being
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- Increased life expectancy
| - Lowers risk of osteoporosis
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- Improves stamina & fitness
| - Reduces ageing factors in muscles
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| - Reduces risk of early mortality
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| | - Helps with management of chronic disease such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers
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